Wiper Arm issue

[DrMaxwellEdison]

Evening all,

Having an issue with fixing the left wiper arm on mom's 90L (I do all the work on her Festiva too) ... I can move it up and down in the motion the motor would go in to send it up and down the window.... the passenger side does not move when doing so. when I turn the wipers on they work in unison but when they are off I have this problem.
Any ideas would be appreciated.... someone told my father that you could access this from under the dash, if I recall correctly having taken the dash out this is not so.... Personally it is not a bother but she wants it done and I try to never argue with my mother (wouldn't get far if I did anyway and it's downright disrespectful)

Thanx

[bravekozak]

Possible stripped broaching on wiper arm?
Carefully remove the cover on the wiper arm.
Remove the nut.
Pull the wiper arm straight off and inspect the broaching to ensure it is not worn away. If so you will need a new wiper arm.

The wiper assembly is completely servicable from the engine firewall. If one moves, the other should move too.

Good luck.

[DrMaxwellEdison]

the wiper moves when you run the wiper motor with the passenger side wiper it's just you can pick it up and jostle it but the passenger side is snug and doesn't move..... wondering if theres a way to just tighten something up to make it stay in place.... it has some sort of plastic boot around it so I'm trying to figure out if that'd impeed fixing it

[bravekozak]

The nut is probably loose.
It's a tapered broach.
When you tighten it down, it will be snug again.

[DrMaxwellEdison]

must try that this evening when I get home.... the car is off for the day

[DrMaxwellEdison]

looked at it personally and it's the loose where the piece mounts to hold it to the sheet metal I'm wondering if its a couple of loose nuts hold it to that....

[DrMaxwellEdison]

sorry to rehash an old thread but I never got it fixed, been attempting to get it fixed the last few days, how ridgid is the cowl metal? I'm trying to make threads on the little studd looking things that come up next to where the wiper arm connects to the assembly and put nuts over them and bolt them to the cowl if it's strong enough or do I need to add another piece of metal underneath it to keep it from fatiguing

[Safety Guy]

Andrew, I could never figure out what your problem was here, because in your first post you said, "...when I turn the wipers on they work in unison but when they are off I have this problem."

If they both "work in unison" when on, what is the problem?

Can you post pictures?

Karl

[batstiva]

If I'm understanding correctly, they work fine when switched on, but when off the driver's side has play that the passenger side doesn't, correct? If that is the case, it may be the spring on the wiper arm that is worn. Can't remember now if that's serviceable, or if it means a trip to the yard.

[DrMaxwellEdison]

I'm probably explaining it all wrong, I'm thinking it's not the arm itself ((I personally only looked at it last night and a few weeks ago) (first few times were dark)) I think it's got something to do with where the broach and nut come through the cowl being loose. I'll go take pictures now.

[25Horseplay]

Check closely, I have seen the metal crack where the mount. Around the nut

[DrMaxwellEdison]

I'm trying to figure out if that's the problem, which I think it is.... can't seem to find the camera to take pics... have fresh batteries for it if I can ever find it...

[Safety Guy]

I think you can pull the rubbery boots up off and maybe tighten something underneath where the wiper body mounts to the cowl?

Karl